A Torbay sex offender has been jailed for six months for failing to tell the police when he left his address in Torquay.

Ashley Bruckshaw, 26, was convicted in 2012 of sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl. As part of his sentence he was told to sign the Sex Offender Register and tell police about any changes of address.

But Exeter Crown Court was told that in January this year he dropped off the police radar and only surfaced again in October.

Michael Brown, mitigating, told the court that he had been sofa surfing in Birmingham but had handed himself in to police in October.

During nine months out of contact with the authorities he had been living off food banks and out of bins, but had not committed any further sexual offences.

The defendant, who formerly lived in Torquay, admitted failing to notify police of a change of address as required by the Sexual Offences Act 2003.